Older people who experience daytime sleepiness may be at risk of developing new medical conditions, including diabetes, cancer, and high blood pressure, according to a preliminary study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 72nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada, April 25 to May 1, 2020.
The condition called hypersomnolence is defined as excessive daytime sleepiness even after having seven or more hours of sleep.
The study involved 10,930 people who were interviewed over the phone two times, three years apart. In the first interview, 23% of people over 65 met the criteria for excessive sleepiness.
According to a report published on the website of the American Academy of Neurology, the people who reported sleepiness in the first phone interview had a 2.3 times greater risk of developing diabetes or high blood pressure three years later than those who did not experience sleepiness. They were also twice as likely to develop cancer.
The report explains that of the 840 people who reported sleepiness in the first interview, 52 people developed diabetes, while 20 people developed cancer.
The study didn't look at the statistical relationship between daytime sleeping in elderlies and the occurrence of these diseases.
Dr. Abdulbasit Saleh, a respiratory disease professor and head of the Sleep Medicine and Research Center at the Egyptian University of Mansoura, explained that cancer is often caused by hormone imbalance and problems in the immune system.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Saleh said: "Sleeping for a long period during the day – exceeding the healthy limit of a nap (25 to 45 minutes) - indicates that people, old and young, are suffering from sleep problems at night. This could disturb the biological clock and affect the immune system and hormones, and thus, making people prone to cancer."
The professor suggested that the study focused on older people for two reasons: they often consume medicines that may affect their sleep, and they suffer from immunity problems more than younger groups.
The link between poor sleep quality and diabetes is not new and isn't related to age.
According to Saleh, the interrupted sleep affects the sympathetic nervous system and makes it work unstoppably, which messes with the rate of metabolism, and leads to diabetes.
